John "Alvin" Estep, a former Alleghany resident, pauses for a photo with his dog, Lilly.

Estep recalls life in Alleghany, work with U.S. military

John "Alvin" Estep, a former resident of Alleghany County recently recounted his life; including education through Alleghany County Schools the said was a great influence on his life.

Life In Alleghany

Born in Forrest Hill, Md., Estep and his family, including parents Cery and Lilly Estep, returned to the parents home county of Alleghany to raise the children. Alvin's siblings are the late Woodrow, a long time magistrate; Elsie Estep Collins, Velma Estep Vaughn and the youngest of the bunch, Sparta Mayor Pro Tem Agnes Estep Joines.

Of growing up in Alleghany with his parents and four siblings, Estep recalled, "There was a lot of work to do as kids, as everybody had chores, but we also had a lot of freedom and latitude about what we did in our free time. Things I remember most vividly about growing up on the farm was the close relationship of family—including extended family. Not only did we have our immediate family, there were cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who we visited frequently."

He went on to say there was also a close relationship with neighbors, as they helped each other with farm activities and crops.

Estep said, "Today, many people don't even know their next door neighbors. In the rural farming community, everybody knew everybody else and we supported each other. It went from the simple things like picking up items for a neighbor when we went to town, to helping put up hay if a rainstorm was approaching. I can remember my dad being awaken in the middle of the night to pull someone out of a ditch with the tractor and, of course, nothing was charged." In 1950, Estep left Alleghany County to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. as a fingerprint technician. The following year, Estep joined the Air Force during the Korean War, retiring in 1973.

Of his military experience, he stated he has many "pleasant memories."

"One thing that stands out is the military provides opportunities for leadership and responsibility at a much younger age than you would normally achieve these things in civilian life. They continuously give you responsibility commensurate with what you have shown you can handle. For example, in 1956 as a 24-year-old staff sergeant security policeman, I was in charge of the security and law enforcement. During the times my 35-man shift/flight was on duty, for the security of three squadrons of fighter-bombers, one squadron sometimes loaded with nuclear weapons, the nuclear bomb storage area and two town patrols of local communities, plus the law enforcement of the installation. Of course there were higher ranking individuals who I could call if necessary, but I was the flight commander of all on duty security and law enforcement personnel."

He added, "The training and education I received in the military prepared me for excellent civilian positions."

Over the course of his military years, Estep was stationed abroad in England, Taiwan, Okinawa, Germany, Iran, India, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Thailand, as well as stateside in New York, California, Georgia and Nebraska.

After the military, Estep served as an East Coast regional director, headquartered in Richmond, Va. and later served as a center director at Fort Ord California for Chapman University.

"I then went into federal civil service in 1976 and retired as director of resource management at the Defense Institute in Monterey, California, administrating a budget well over $100 million."